Broadcasting studio



l948- J. K. GANNETT ET AL 2,451,283

BROADCASTING S TUDIO Filed Nov. 12. 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7g INVENTOR.

,4 7' rams/Era Oct. 12, 1948. J. K. GANNETT ET AL BROADCASTING STUDIO 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 12, 1943 ss w KGANNEI-r /19 INVENTOR.

P05527- SM/TH J, 52mm 14 5mm n/vo Patented Oct. 1 2 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT 02F F -I C BROADCASTING STUDIO Joseph 'K. Gannet't, 'Montcla'ir, N. J., and'Robert Smith, Jr., Richmond Heights, and Brown W. 'Savelan'd, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to The Austin Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application November 12,;1943, Serial No. 509,996

7 Claims.

This invention relates 'toibuildings and, as one of its objects, aims to-prov'ide a building of animproved design and construction rendering the servation or seating rooms served 'by a rotatable stage and by a single control and broadcasting l0,

station, so that a desired continuity or succession of programs can be maintained and a duplication of costly broadcasting and television apparatus can beavoided.

A further object of this invention is to provide abuildingo'f the kind mentioned, in which'theo'bservation rooms and the control station or room occupy novel positions relative to the stage.

Still another object of the invention is to pro vide a building of this kind -having a rotatable '20 stage, and in which the observation rooms, the common control room and certain auxiliary rooms occupy novel positions relative to the stage.

"The invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel conibina- 'tions andarrangements hereinafter described and particularlyset out in the appended-claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the mezzanine floor of a building or studio embodying our invention.

'2 is a partial plan view of the first floor, and

Fig. 3 is apartial sectional elevation view taken through the building substantially on line 3- 3 of Fig. 2.

As already indicated in a general way, our .novel building [0 can be used for exhibits of all kinds but is especially suitable for use .as a studio in which artistic or theatrical programs can be pre- ':sented in connection with radio and television 40 "broadcasting or for various other purposes. As .shown in the drawings, the building has a walled portion or enclosure ll housing a rotatable stage I2 and an adjacent walled portion [3 containing various rooms including a pair of main observa- '45 tion or seating rooms H and 15. The building section I I, which constitutes the rearward portion of the building, can be of any desired shape and in the present embodiment of the invention is substantially circular with an annular space 15 extending between the outsidewall Na and the periphery of the rotatable stage or turntable 1'2. "Thebuildlng section I Storms the front portion of the building and is of an appropriate shape and height to house the observation rooms M and I5 and to provide a central projection H containing.

a suitable entry [8 and a lobby -or foyer [9,

The rotatable stage I2 comprises a substantially circular floor or turntable which is rota table about a central post or axis 2| and aplurality of intersecting upright walls 22 and 23,

which divide the stage into a number of display areas or sets. In this-instance the Walls 22 and2-3 intersect each other at substantially right angles and define four display areas or sets designated In the drawing the display area or set A is. shown as being in a viewing position, that is'to,

say it is in the position -or station in which the performance or exhibit being presented in thisset is visible from the observation rooms 114 and .115. The upright walls 22 and #23 maybe of any de-. sired height which will render the display areas suitable for the purpose intended and, as shown in Fig. 2, these walls may be provided with passages or .do'orways '24 connectin the adjacent display areas with each other and through Which't'l'ie actors or artists'appearing on the stage can en- 'ter or leave the set .A. The scenery for the set A can be located at different desiredpositions, de-

pending upon the character of the performance or exhibit being presented, and in Fig. 2the broken lines 24a and 24b represent two such positions.

As mentioned above, the set A is shown as being in the viewingposition in which the'performanceor exhibit being presented in this area can be ob-,

servediro'm one or both of the rooms. 14 and IS.

The other sets B, C and Dare out of sight oi the completed, thestage I2 isrotated to bring another of the sets or display areas into the viewing position, The portion 1 6a of the annular 'space l6, which lies outside of the observation rooms [4 and 15 and extends between the stage 12 and the outer wall I la, .can be used as a work shop or as a storage space for-scenery and'from which space workmen can enter the display areas "B, C and D for preparation of .the stage settings therein.

The observation rooms 14 and f5 are located so that they face the set A and extend 'reariwardly away from the stage in diverging relation. Each observation room contains rows or tiers [25 of seats for the observers or audience. The inner or lower ends of these observation rooms have a relatively low or partial front wall 26 and a front opening 21 above such wall and through which the set A can be seen by the audience. The seat rows or tiers 25 extend upwardly and rearwardly from the front wall 26 to a passage 28 which extends across the rear or upper end of each observation room and is connected with the mezzanine floor 29. Stairways or aisles 30 located on opposite sides of the central seating are of the observation rooms lead forwardly and downwardly from the passage 28 and afford access to the various rows of seats.

The diverging relation of the observation rooms [4 and 15 is preferably such that these rooms extend substantially at right angles to each other with portions 3| a of their outer or remote side walls 3| extending over the rotatable stage [2 in substantially aligned relation with the upright intersecting walls 22 and 23 of the stage. This registering relation between the side walls 3| of the observation rooms and the uprightwalls 22 and 23 of the set A limits the vision ofthe audience to the 'set or area occupying the viewing register'with the upright walls 22 and 23 of the rotatable] stage and afford passage to the backstage areas from the space 1612- lying between'the 4 38 through which the interior of the control rooni can be seen from the mezzanine floor 29, as indicated in Fig 3. rooms l4 and [5 are opaque as is usual in buildings of this character and, as shown in Fig. 1,

, portions .ofvtheinner or. adjacent sidewalls of the observation rooms form theside walls of the control room 35. 7

By locating the control room and the equipment room 35a between the main observation rooms l4 and I5 and in proximity to the set A, as above explained, these rooms and the equipment therein can be used to serve both observation rotatable stage and the adjacent ends of the observation rooms I4 and !5. As shown in Fig. 1 the front opening 21 of each of the main observation rooms l4. and I5 is provided with a suitable Anotherfeature of the present invention is the I provision of a control room or station 35 between the inner or adjacent ends of the observation "rooms M and [5, such inner ends being spaced apart to permit the set A to be seen fromjthe, controlroom; This control room may be used" asa central station for directing the performance orexhibit' being presented in the set A and for operating or controlling radio broadcasting and television equipment which may be used in connection with the performance or exhibit being presented. The control room or station can also 'be used in supplying or controlling the music or illumination for the performance or exhibit and as the station from which the curtains 33 are actuated and from which instructions or explanations can be'given to the audience in the rooms 14 and! 5 by suitable sound or visual signalling 'means. 7 As shown in the drawing the control room or station 35 includes a lower floor or room 35ain 'which the broadcasting and television appara jtus and various other equipment may be located.

The equipment room 35a is connected with the control room 35 thereabove by the circular stairway'36. A portion or section 31 of'the front wall of the control room 35 is transparent and is located to afford direct vision of the set A from such control room. The location of the transparent section 31 is also such that the persons seated in the observation rooms l4 and 15 can no-t'readilysee into the control room and will therefore not have their attention diverted from the performance or exhibit. The rear wall of the control room also contains a transparent section Y ment which isof a very costly nature.

rooms thereby avoidin duplication of such equip- The observation rooms I4 and [5 can, if desired, be filled simultaneously so that an audience in each room will see the set A at the same time. Preferably, however, the observation rooms I4 and 15 are filled and emptied alternately in succession so as to permit the programs andthe use of the above-mentioned expensive equipment to be carried out in a substantially continuous manner. In other words one of theobservation rooms, for

example the room M, can be filled and its cur= tain 33 withdrawn to permit the set A to be ob-,

served by such audience. During this perform-'- 7 ance the room 15 can be filled while the curtain 33 is in its drawn or closed position. 7 At the com pletion of the performance or program in set A the curtain for the observation room I4 is closed and the stage I2 is rotated torbring another set into the viewing position whereupon the curtain of the observation room I5 is opened. While the new set is being observed by the audience in the.

room 15, the room M can be emptied and refilled with a new audience and this procedure can be repeated indefinitely. V

Another feature of the present invention isthe utilization of the space on the first floor of the building and beneath the observation rooms 14 and 15 in a novel manner. As shown in Fig.2, a pair of dressisng rooms 39 and is located be'-,

'neath each main observation room adjacent, the

inner end thereof. Various other rooms are lo-' cated beneath the observation rooms such as theoffices M and 42, and autility room 43 for heating and air conditioning equipment. Between each pair of dressing rooms 39 and 40 a special obser; 'vat-ion room 44 is provided whichmay be occupied by representative of the'person or company sponsoring the broadcast or performance being presented on the stage. These special observa- 'tion" rooms 44 have atransparent 'front wall or window 45 located in the wall 26 and through which the set A 'of the stage can be directly observed. Other rooms 48 and 49 located adjacent the equipment room 35amay contain cameras, projectors and various other necessary apparatus.

'By locating a pair of thedressing rooms 39 and 40 and one of the special observation rooms 44 beneath each of the main observation rooms, it

will be seen that the dressing rooms and special observation rooms will be in close'proximityito the stage l2 and that these groups of rooms can beentered and vacated alternately by the personnel associated with the successive programs and hence, delays and-confusionwill be substantially eliminated. Reverting to thedescription of the front projection l1 ofthe building, it will be seen in the drawingsthat stairways 50 are provided which connect the mezzanine floor 29' with the lobby [9.

At a suitable point in the lobby an information desk or ticket ofiicej I may be provided.

The side walls of the observation asasiafi .5 From the ioregoingdescription andthe-accom- -partying :drawings it will now be readilyseen that we have'providedacnovel form ,of or studio which can be used for exhibitsor 'periomnances of all. kinds and'is especially suitable .gfior radio and television broadcasting purposes. It will be seenalso that the provision of la rotatiable stage :and 2a pluralityvof observation rooms :permits a continuoussuccession of programs to bepresented without interruption. Likewise, it will be observed that with the present arrangement the observation rooms 'andstage arezserved by one, control room and one set of equipment and that the :latter 'can be :used continuously duriingfthe successive exhibits or'programs. Furthersnore, .it will be seen that :the compact arrangementlzprovided in our novel building permitsa group of utility rooms -to be locatedrbeneath each :of .the :main observation rooms and in-close proxiunity-to the rotatable stage.

While we have illustrated and described our zoo-val :building or broadcasting studio in considerable-detail, it will be understood, of course, that .we do .not wish to be correspondingly limited :but w regardiour invention as including all changes and modifications comin within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appendediclaims.

Having thus describedour invention, we claim:

1. In a building of the character described, a stage having-asubst'antia'lly circular floor and upright walls dividing the same substantially into quadrants, said stage being rotatable for moving one of said quadrants to a viewing position, and a pair of observation rooms facingsaid viewing position and extending in diverging relation away from the stage, said observation rooms having front openings directed; toward said-viewing position and the latter being common to both rooms, the outer side walls of said observation rooins extending at substantially right :angles :to each other and bein located for substantial alignment with the upright walls of the stage quadrant occupying said viewing position, and curtains at said front openings controlling the View from the respective rooms of the stage set occupying said viewing position and nabling said rooms to be filled and emptied alternately in timed relation to the movement of the successive stage sets to the viewin position.

2. In a building of the character described, a stage having a substantially circular floor and upright walls dividing the same substantially into quadrants, said stage being rotatable for moving one of said quadrants to a viewing position, a pair of observation rooms facing said viewing position and extending in diverging relation away from the stage, said observation rooms having their adjacent ends spaced apart and having outer side walls extending at substantially right angles to each other, said side walls being located for substantial alignment with the upright walls of the stage quadrant occupying said viewing position, said observation rooms having front openings directed toward said viewing position and the latter being common to both rooms, and a control room serving both observation rooms and located between said adjacent ends of the observation rooms and having a transparent wall section through which said stage is visible.

3. In a building of the character described, a stage having a substantially circular floor and upright walls dividing the same substantially into quadrants, said stage being rotatable for moving one of said quadrants to a viewing position, walls defining a pair of observation rooms facing said i6 iyiewing position and extending in; diverging :relation away item the stage, said observation rooms having their :ad'j'acent ends, .spaced apart and having outer side walls; extending: sat ssubstan tially :rifiit'lang-les'tnleach other, said sidewalls being located for substantial alignment with-"the upright walls of the stage quadrant occupying -said'viewingposition, :said observation rooms having front openings-directed toward said viewing position :and the latter beingcornmon to both :rooms, .a curtainrior the "front opening of .eachob- .servation room for controlling the view- 0f the istageitherefmm, andvaxcontrol room serving both observationroomsand located betweensaid adja- -sent ends bizthe observation iroomsuand having a transparent wall section through which said stage is yisiblasaid control iroom being :defined at least :in part :by'theiwalls .oflsaid observation rooms.

4. .In a building :of .the character described, intersecting upright walls defining therebetween asubstaritially ninety? degree display sector, other upright walls located relative to and cooperating :with the first-mentioned uprightwalls sc -as to define :a pair of. separate observation ,rooms =exztending away iromx aiddisplay sector in substantially ninety. tdegreeladiverging relation, :2. stage rotatable about an axisxiocated substantially at the intersection. of the -first=mentioned upright 'andlforming the floor of said display sector, portions of said first-mentioned walls extending xover'saidu-stage nndhaving their lower edges spaced thereabova: upright walls -also intersecting substantially ontsa'id axisand at substantially the angle: as said first-mentioned walls and carried by said stage and adapted to be moved thereby into a position below and substantially in registration said portions, theintersectin-g amright'walls =of .said :stagelibeing of a height-substantially; equalize the spacing of said 'lower edges sabove zthe. stage, said :observationrooms having front openingszfacingrsaid-rlisplaysector=and-such that the opening of each room afiords a view from such room of substantially the entire display sector, and upright front and rear walls extending between the upright walls of the adjacent sides of said observation rooms and defining therewith a control room adapted to serve both observation rooms and said display sector, said front wall being transparent and afiording a view of said display sector and stage floor from said control room.

5. In a building of the character described, intersecting upright walls defining therebetween a substantially ninety degree display sector, other upright walls located relative to and cooperating with the first-mentioned upright walls so as to define a pair of separate observation rooms extending away from said display sector in substantially ninety degree diverging relation, a stage rotatable about an axis located substantially at the intersection of the first-mentioned upright walls and forming the floor of said display sector, portions of said first-mentioned walls extending over said stage and having their lower edges spaced thereabove, upright walls also intersecting substantial- 1y on said axis and at substantially the same angle as said first-mentioned Walls and carried by said stage and adapted to be moved thereby into a D0- sition below and substantially in registration with said wall portions, the intersecting upright walls of said stage being of a height substantially equal to the spacing of said lower edges above the stage, said observation rooms having front openings facing said display sector and such that the opening of each room afiords a view from such room ,7 v of substantially the entire display sector, and movable curtains at said front openings and controlling the view of said display sector from'the respective observation rooms. 7 t

6. In a building of the character described, intersecting upright walls defining therebetween a substantially ninety degree display sector, other upright walls located relative to the first-mentioned upright walls and cooperating therewith so as to define a pair of separate observation rooms extending away from said displaysector in substantially ninety degree diverging relation, tiered seats in said observation rooms, a circular floor having intersecting upright walls thereon dividing its surfaceinto sector sh'aped stage areas of a size to correspond substantially with said display sector, portions of said first-mentioned walls extending over said floor and having their lower edges spaced thereabove, and means supporting said floor for rotation about an axis located substantially at the intersection of the first-mentioned upright walls such that said stage areas are adapted to be selectively brought to a position registering substantially with said display sector and in which the corresponding upright walls of the circular .floor register substantially with said portions of the first-mentioned walls, said upright walls of the circular floor having a height substantially equal to the spacing of said lower edges above said circular floor, saidobservation rooms having front openings facing said display sector and such that the opening of each room affords a view from such room of substantially the entire display sector including the stage area in register therewith. t

7. In a building of the character described, intersecting uprightwalls defining therebetween a display sector, other upright walls located relative to the first-mentioned upright 'walls and cooperating therewith so as to define a pair of separate observation rooms extending away from said display sector in diverging relation, tiered seats in said observation rooms, a circular floor having intersecting upright walls thereon dividing its surface into sector shaped stage areas of a size to correspond substantially with said display sector, portions of said first-mentioned walls extending over said floor and having their lower edges spaced thereabove, means supporting said floor "for rotation about an axis located substantially at the intersection of the first-mentioned upright walls such that said stage areas are adapted to be selectively brought to a position registering suband movable curtains at said front openings and' controllin the view of said display sector and' registering stage area from therespective observation rooms. s JOSEPH K. GANNETT.

ROBERT SMITH, JR. BROWN W. SAVELAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are-of record in the file of this patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 258,539 Needham May 23, 1882 612,836 Ellis Oct. 25, 1898 1,012,499 Zeh Dec; 19, 1911 1,559,739

Brown Nov. 3, 1925 

